Proxy for multiple payment mechanisms

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments are related to apparatuses and methods for paying for a financial transaction using a proxy object. The proxy object can be associated with multiple payment accounts, for example accounts associated with credit cards and debit cards. A consumer can present the object to a payee to make a payment, and the payee can use a device to obtain information from the object. For example, when the proxy object is a proxy card similar to a credit card, the payee can use a card reader to read information from the magnetic stripe of the proxy card. The information can be transmitted to a financial system, and the financial system can communicate with a computer system that can select a payment account associated with the proxy card to use for the payment. The financial system can process the payment using the selected payment account.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a non-provisional application filed under 37 C.F.R. §1.53(b),claiming priority under U.S.C. Section 119(e) to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/894,327 filed Oct. 22, 2013, the entiredisclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

Consumers today use many types of payment cards (e.g. credit cards,debit cards, prepaid gift cards) and other payment objects (e.g. a smartphone with a digital wallet) to make purchases. Consumers may carrymultiple payment cards or other payment objects for a variety ofreasons, however, some consumers find carrying such an array of paymentoptions inconvenient and burdensome. For example, all these multiplepayment cards add to an overstuffed wallet or purse making it difficultto find a particular payment card. Consequently, the consumer may pickthe first payment card that he finds to pay for a purchase, which inretrospect may not be the best choice for the transaction. For example,the consumer, while later rummaging through the consumer's overstuffedwallet or purse, may find a prepaid gift card or a different credit cardassociated with a frequent flyer program, that the consumer would havepreferred to use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described and explainedthrough the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a process for paying for a purchase using aproxy card;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a process for paying for a purchase using apayment object;

FIG. 3A is an illustration of a subset of components of or associatedwith a first embodiment of a financial system for processing financialtransactions and associated fund transfers;

FIG. 3B is an illustration of a subset of components of or associatedwith a second embodiment of a financial system for processing financialtransactions and associated fund transfers;

FIG. 4A is an illustration of components of or associated with a thirdembodiment of a financial system for processing financial transactionsand associated fund transfers;

FIG. 4B is an illustration of components of or associated with a fourthembodiment of a financial system for processing financial transactionsand associated fund transfers;

FIG. 4C is an illustration of components of or associated with a fifthembodiment of a financial system for processing financial transactionsand associated fund transfers;

FIG. 5A is an illustration of components of or associated with a firstembodiment of a financial system for processing financial transactionsand associated fund transfers;

FIG. 5B is an illustration of components of or associated with a secondembodiment of a financial system for processing financial transactionsand associated fund transfers;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a method forprocessing a payment made using a payment object; and

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of a computer system in whichoperations described herein can be executed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In this description, references to “an embodiment”, “one embodiment” orthe like, mean that the particular feature, function, structure orcharacteristic being described is included in at least one embodiment ofthe technique introduced here. Occurrences of such phrases in thisspecification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. Onthe other hand, the embodiments referred to also are not necessarilymutually exclusive.

This application discloses technology related to making a payment inwhich a consumer can carry a payment object, for example a payment cardsimilar to a credit card, and can associate multiple payment accountswith that payment object. The payment object is referred to herein as aproxy object, or in the case of a payment card, as a proxy card. Forexample, the proxy card can be associated with multiple paymentaccounts, such as credit card accounts, automated teller machine (ATM)card accounts and/or gift card accounts, by linking the proxy card tothose accounts. The consumer can have access to all of the linkedpayment accounts from the proxy card, and can use the proxy card to makea payment in which funds for the payment come from any of the linkedpayment accounts. Hence, the consumer is relieved of the burden ofhaving to carry multiple payment cards.

In an illustrative use case, the consumer presents a proxy card to aseller to pay for a purchase. The proxy card is swiped through a cardreader, and the card reader reads proxy card information from the proxycard. The term “swipe” here refers to any manner of triggering aphysical card reader to read a physical card, such as passing a cardthrough a magnetic stripe reader, smartcard reader, optical code reader,radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, etc. After a successfulswipe, the process of authorizing the transaction begins. The cardreader transmits the proxy card information to the point-of-sale (POS)system to which the card reader is coupled. The term “sale”, as inpoint-of-sale (POS), refers to any type of payment-oriented transaction,including a lease or rental for example, and is not limited to an actualpurchase.

In some embodiments, the POS system sends the transaction information,which includes the proxy card information and purchase information suchas the amount of the purchase and the payee, to a financial system. Thefinancial system includes a processing service, a financial service, anda banking service. The processing service receives the transactioninformation from the POS system. A processing service determines the“type” of the card, with examples of “types” of cards being VISA andMasterCard branded payment cards. In this example, the magnetic stripeof the proxy card is encoded as a VISA branded payment card, but withadditional meta-data. The processing service, based on the proxy cardinformation, recognizes the “type” of the proxy card as a VISA brandedpayment card, and sends the transaction information to the financialservice that processes VISA branded payment cards (e.g. VISA's VisaNetPayment System).

The financial service, based on the meta-data that is included in theproxy card information, determines to forward the transactioninformation to a computer system for further processing. In thisexample, the transaction information is forwarded to a computer systemassociated with an IP address that is contained in the meta-data. Thecomputer system uses the proxy card information to access a databasecontaining various data associated with the proxy card, such as theconsumer's name and the associated payment accounts. The computer systemselects a payment account to use for authorizing the payment based on analgorithm, or prompts the consumer to make a selection via theconsumer's mobile device. The computer system sends the transactioninformation and the selected payment account information to thefinancial service that handles that “type” of account for furtherprocessing.

In this example, the “type” of the selected payment account is aMasterCard branded payment card, and the computer system sends thetransaction information and the payment account information to thefinancial service that processes MasterCard branded payment cards (e.g.MasterCard's BankNet network). MasterCard's BankNet network determineswhich banking service is associated with the payment account, andforwards the transaction information and the payment account informationto the banking service for further processing. A banking service managespayment accounts including funds in or available to the paymentaccounts. The banking service determines that the payment account hasaccess to adequate funds for the payment, and sends an authorization forthe payment to the POS system.

In some embodiments, the POS system sends the transaction information toa computer system on which a financial transaction platform isimplemented. The financial transaction platform enables multiple payersto engage in financial transactions with multiple payees includingprocessing payments made by the payers using payment cards. Theprocessing includes causing a transfer of funds from accounts associatedwith the payment cards to accounts associated with the payees. Thefinancial transaction platform has access to the database that containsthe various data associated with the proxy card. The financialtransaction platform determines that the transaction informationincludes proxy card information, and accesses the database to select apayment account to use for authorizing the payment. Alternately, thefinancial transaction platform can prompt the consumer to select apayment account via the consumer's mobile device.

The financial transaction platform sends the transaction information andthe selected payment account information to the financial service thathandles that “type” of payment account for further processing. Similarto the preceding example, the financial service forwards the transactioninformation to a banking service associated with the payment account,and the banking service sends an authorization for the payment to thePOS system. In some embodiments, the financial transaction platformsends the authorization for the payment to the POS system. In someembodiments, the financial transaction platform sends the authorizationfor the payment to the financial system, which relays the authorizationto the POS system.

At the point that the POS system receives the payment authorization andthe consumer agrees to the financial transaction, such as by providing asignature or a personal identification number (PIN), the financialtransaction is complete. If the consumer does not later change thepayment account selection, the financial system will transfer funds fromthe payment account to an account associated with the seller to fund thepayment.

In some embodiments, at a later time, such as when the consumer arriveshome, the consumer can select a different payment account associatedwith the proxy card from which funds to make the payment are to beobtained. For example, the consumer uses his mobile device, such as asmart phone or tablet computer, to communicate with the computer system.The computer system sends information regarding the consumer's recentpurchase, such as the seller, the date, and the amount of the purchase,to the consumer via the consumer's mobile device. The computer systemfurther sends information regarding the payment accounts that areassociated with the consumer's proxy card. The consumer uses the mobiledevice to select a second payment account from which funds for thepayment are to be obtained. The computer system cancels the payment thatwas previously authorized, and, similar to the preceding examples, sendsthe transaction information and the second payment account informationto the financial system for processing. The financial system transfersfunds from the second payment account to the account associated with theseller to fund the payment.

FIG. 1 illustrates a process for paying for a purchase using a proxycard in accordance with various aspects of the disclosed technology.While the example of FIG. 1 involves paying for a purchase using a proxycard, the disclosed technology can be used to make any electronicpayment, including payments for the purchase of goods, for rentals, forservices, for financial transactions, etc. The example processillustrated in FIG. 1 has three phases. The first phase is card swipe105. A consumer has proxy card 150, which in this example is a magneticstripe card physically similar to a credit card. Multiple paymentaccounts are associated with proxy card 150 including several creditcards, an ATM card, and a prepaid gift card. The payment accounts areassociated with proxy card 150, such as by being linked to proxy card150. The links can be implemented using a database that associates proxycard 150 with the payment accounts. The consumer presents proxy card 150to a seller to pay for a purchase. The seller executes card swipe 105,which includes step 103, in which the seller swipes proxy card 150through card reader 155, and step 108, in which card reader 155transmits information obtained from proxy card 150 to POS system 158, apoint-of-sales (POS) system to which card reader 155 is coupled (eitherdirectly or indirectly).

POS system 158 then begins the second phase, which is paymentauthorization 130. Payment authorization 130 includes steps forobtaining an authorization for the payment and includes steps 110, 115,120, 125, and 180. Payment authorization 130 starts with step 110. Atstep 110 POS system 158 transmits information associated with proxy card150, referred to herein as the proxy card information, to financialsystem 160. In this example, the proxy card information includesidentifying information for the proxy card and meta-data which is usedto determine that proxy card 150 is a proxy card, among other purposes.

POS system 158 further transmits information associated with thepurchase transaction, referred to herein as the transaction information,to financial system 160. The transaction information includes the amountof the transaction, information regarding the payee, and can furtherinclude individual line items from the transaction. At step 110,financial system 160 receives the proxy card information and thetransaction information. At step 115, financial system 160 parses themeta-data and determines, based on the meta-data, to send a message tocomputer system 170. The message sent to computer system 170 at step 115can include all or part of the proxy card information and thetransaction information, among other information. The meta-data caninclude data such as an IP address or a phone number that indicate wherethe message should be sent.

Computer system 170, upon receiving the proxy card information, accessesa database access to obtain payment account information associated withproxy card 150. At step 180, computer system 170 applies an algorithm,which can be customized by the consumer, to select the payment accountto use for the purchase transaction. At step 120, computer system 170transmits the transaction information and the payment accountinformation to financial system 160, and financial system 160 determinesthe results of payment authorization 130 using the selected paymentaccount. If the payment account has access to adequate funds for thepayment, and no other issue exists, financial system 160 determines thatthe result of payment authorization 130 is that the payment isauthorized.

If some issue exists, such as the payment account does not have accessto adequate funds for the payment or the payment account has a fraudalert, financial system 160 determines that the result of paymentauthorization 130 is that the payment is declined. Other results, suchas declining the purchase transaction and instructing the seller to takepossession of the proxy card, or additional information, such as anauthorization number, can be transmitted to financial system 160 at step120. At step 125, financial system 160 transmits the results of paymentauthorization 130 to POS system 158.

In some embodiments, instead of financial system 160 determining andsending the results of payment authorization 130, computer system 170determines and sends the results of the payment authorization. Computersystem 170 decides the payment authorization based on information suchas the consumer's credit reports or scores and the history of pastpayments processed by computer system 170. Computer system 170 sends thepayment authorization results to POS system 158, or to financial system160, which relays the results to POS system 158.

At this point, assuming that the purchase transaction was authorized andthe consumer accepted the purchase transaction, the purchase transactionis complete and the consumer is free to walk out of the store with thepurchased items. At a later time, for example when the consumer arrivesat home, the consumer can optionally start phase 3, change of paymentaccount 145. If the consumer does not utilize this phase, financialsystem 160 will transfer funds for the payment from the selected paymentaccount to an account associated with the seller. However, during thisphase, the consumer can select a second different payment account fromwhich funds to for the payment are to be obtained.

The consumer uses personal computing device 165, for example a smartphone or a laptop computer, to initiate change of payment account 145which includes steps 135, 140, and 175. At step 135, personal computingdevice 165 communicates with computer system 170 to initiate change ofpayment account 145. At step 140, computer system 170 providesinformation regarding the purchase transaction to the consumer viapersonal computing device 165. Examples of the information providedinclude the date of the purchase, information regarding the seller, andthe amount of the purchase. Computer system 170 further providesinformation regarding the payment accounts associated with proxy card150 to the consumer via personal computing device 165. Computer system170 has access to a database containing various information associatedwith proxy card 150, as well as associated with the consumer and thepayment accounts associated with proxy card 150.

When there are multiple payment accounts associated with proxy card 150,the consumer, using personal computing device 165, can select anypayment account associated with proxy card 150 from which funds for thepayment are to be obtained. At step 140, personal computing device 165transmits information indicating the selection to computer system 170.After the selection is made, at step 175 computer system 170 transmitsinformation related to the selection, such as identifying informationfor the selected payment account, to financial system 160, which causesfinancial system 160 to obtain funds for the purchase from the selectedpayment account. Computer system 170 additionally prevents the funds tobe obtained from the initially selected payment account, such as bycanceling the payment authorization initially obtained from theinitially selected payment account.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a process for paying for a purchase using apayment object in accordance with various aspects of the disclosedtechnology. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the purchase processhas three phases. The first phase is object presentation 205. A consumerhas object 250, which is referred to herein as both a proxy object aswell as a payment object. Object 250 has associated payment accounts,and can be a proxy card with associated payment accounts. The consumerpresents object 250 to the seller to pay for a purchase. Because object250 is compatible with financial system 160, object 250 can be presentedto the seller in a way which enables the seller to obtain informationrelated to object 250 sufficient to enable initiation of paymentauthorization 230.

As a first example, object 250 can be proxy card 150 of FIG. 1. Objectpresentation 205 includes presenting the proxy card so that the proxycard can be read by object identifier 255. In this example, objectidentifier 255 is a POS system including a card reader in which the cardreader is able to obtain information associated with object 250 (i.e.the proxy card) sufficient to initiate payment authorization 230. As asecond example, object 250 can be a finger. Object presentation 205 canbe, for example, presenting the finger so that the fingerprint of thefinger can be read by object identifier 255. In this second example,object identifier is a biometric finger scanner capable of obtaininginformation related to object 250 (i.e. the finger) sufficient to enableinitiation of payment authorization 230.

Object identifier 255 begins the second phase, which is paymentauthorization 230 and includes steps 210, 215, 220, 225, and 280.Payment authorization 230 includes the steps for obtaining authorizationfor the payment related to the purchase transaction. Paymentauthorization 230 starts with step 210. At step 210, object identifier255 obtains object information associated with object 250. For example,a POS system obtains proxy card information from the magnetic stripe ofthe proxy card. Step 210 continues with the transmission of the objectinformation to financial system 160, for example the POS systemtransmits the proxy card information to financial system 160.Information related to the purchase transaction (i.e. the transactioninformation), such as the amount of the purchase, is also transmitted tofinancial system 160.

Object identifier 255 can be, for example, a card reader which transmitsthe object information and the transaction information to financialsystem 160. Financial system 160 receives the transmitted information,and based on this information, decides to relay the transmittedinformation to computer system 170 for further processing. At step 215,financial system 160 relays the transmitted information, along withother information, to computer system 170.

For example, financial system 160 receives the transmitted proxy cardinformation, which includes meta-data, and the purchase amount. Uponreceiving the proxy card information, and based on the proxy cardinformation, financial system 160 decides to relay the transmittedinformation to computer system 170. At this point in time, financialsystem 160 does not have the information needed to complete or authorizethe purchase transaction, as financial system 160 without computersystem 170 is not able to determine a payment account associated withthe proxy card to use for the purchase transaction.

Computer system 170, upon receiving the proxy card information, accessesa database access to obtain payment account information associated withthe proxy card information. At step 280, computer system 170 applies analgorithm, which can be customized by the consumer, to select thepayment account to use for the purchase transaction. The following areexample algorithms which can additionally be used for step 180 ofFIG. 1. 1) When there are multiple payment accounts associated withobject 250 and until changed by the consumer or some other entity, thesame one payment account is used for all payment made using object 250.2) The payment account used can be different for each purchasetransaction as well for each line item of a purchase transaction basedon a payment account selection algorithm.

For example, a consumer can use a proxy card to purchase gas and a snackitem at a gas station as part of a single purchase transaction. For thispurchase transaction, the payment account selection algorithm can selecta gas credit card associated with the proxy card for the gas line item,and can select a VISA credit card associated with the proxy card for thesnack line item. In some embodiments, the consumer can set, modify, orchange the algorithm for selecting the payment account to use for apurchase transaction. In some embodiments, the algorithm is based oninputs received from the consumer.

At step 220, computer system 170 transmits the transaction informationand the payment account information to financial system 160, andfinancial system 160 determines the results of payment authorization 230using the selected payment account. If the payment account has access toadequate funds for the payment, and no other issue exists, financialsystem 160 determines that the result of payment authorization 230 isthat the payment is authorized.

If some issue exists, such as the payment account does not have accessto adequate funds for the payment or the payment account has a fraudalert, financial system 160 determines that the result of paymentauthorization 230 is that the payment is declined. Other results, suchas declining the purchase transaction and instructing the seller to takepossession of the proxy card, or additional information, such as anauthorization number, can be transmitted to financial system 160 at step220. At step 225, financial system 160 transmits the results of paymentauthorization 230 to Object identifier 255.

In some embodiments, instead of financial system 160 determining andsending the results of payment authorization 230, computer system 170determines and sends the results of the payment authorization. Computersystem 170 decides the payment authorization based on information suchas the consumer's credit reports or scores and the history of pastpayments processed by computer system 170. Computer system 170 can sendthe payment authorization results to Object identifier 255, or can sendthe results to financial system 160, which can relay the results toObject identifier 255.

At this point, assuming that the purchase transaction was authorized andthe consumer accepted the purchase transaction, the purchase transactionis complete and the consumer is free to walk out of the store with thepurchased items. At a later time, for example when the consumer arrivesat home, the consumer can optionally start phase 3, change of paymentaccount 245. If the consumer does not utilize this phase, financialsystem 160 will transfer funds for the payment from the selected paymentaccount to an account associated with the seller. However, during thisphase, the consumer can select a second different payment account fromwhich funds to make the payment are to be obtained.

The consumer uses personal computing device 165, for example a smartphone or a laptop computer, to initiate change of payment account 245which includes steps 235, 240, and 275. At step 235, personal computingdevice 165 communicates with computer system 170 to initiate change ofpayment account 245. At step 240, computer system 170 providesinformation regarding the purchase transaction to the consumer viapersonal computing device 165. Examples of the information providedinclude the date of the purchase, information regarding the seller, andthe amount of the purchase. Computer system 170 further providesinformation regarding the payment accounts associated with object 250 tothe consumer via personal computing device 165. Computer system 170 hasaccess to a database containing various information associated withobject 250 as well as associated with the consumer and the paymentaccounts associated with object 250.

When there are multiple payment accounts associated with object 250, theconsumer, using personal computing device 165, can select any paymentaccount associated with object 250 from which funds for the payment areto be obtained. At step 240, personal computing device 165 transmitsinformation indicating the selection to computer system 170. After theselection is made, at step 275 computer system 170 transmits informationrelated to the selection, such as payment account information, tofinancial system 160. This causes financial system 160 to obtain fundsfor the payment from the selected payment account. Computer system 170additionally prevents the funds from being obtained from the initiallyselected payment account, such as by canceling the payment from theinitially selected payment account. The funds can correspond to theamount of the purchase, the amount of a line item, the amount ofmultiple line items, or some other amount corresponding to the purchase,and can be transferred to an account associated with the seller. Thefunds transferred can correspond to an amount by being for the amountless a transaction fee. Further, purchase transactions can be batched,and the funds can be for an amount corresponding to the amount of thebatch of purchase transactions.

Object 250 is compatible with financial system 160. In variousembodiments, object 250 can be a magnetic stripe card, a smart card, aproximity card, a re-programmable magnetic stripe card, an cardcontaining an optical code such as a quick response (QR) code or a barcode, or a biometrically identifiable object, such as a finger, a hand,an iris, or a face, among others. Object 250 can be associated withvarious payment objects and payment object accounts, including accountsassociated with credit cards, charge cards, ATM cards, debit cards,pre-paid credit cards, pre-paid debit cards, gift cards, pre-paid giftcards, stored value cards, and fleet cards, among others. The paymentaccounts can be associated with object 250 by, for example, being linkedto object 250. The link can be implemented, for example, using adatabase which links object 250 with the payment accounts. Further,object 250 can be associated with loyalty programs, wherein the loyaltyprograms are another type of payment account which can be used to makethe purchase. In some embodiments, object 250 can be a mobile device.Examples of mobile devices include smart phones, tablets, portable mediadevices, wearable devices, laptops, and other portable computers.

Object identifier 255 can obtain information associated with object 250,the information being part of the object information. In embodimentswhere object 250 is a magnetic stripe card or a re-programmable magneticstripe card, object identifier 255 can read the magnetic stripe. Inembodiments where object 250 is a smart card, object identifier 255 cancommunicate with the smart card to obtain information related to object250. In embodiments where object 250 is a proximity card, objectidentifier 255 can cause the proximity card to transmit informationassociated with the proximity card, such as a radio frequencyidentification (RFID), which object identifier 255 can receive. Inembodiments where object 250 is a card with an optical code such as a QRcode or bar code, object identifier 255 can obtain the optical code, forexample, by scanning the optical code. Object identifier 255 can furthertransmit the object information to financial system 160.

Object identifier 255 can further include a sales system, such as POSsystem 158 of FIG. 1. Examples of sales systems include point-of-sale(POS) systems, cash registers, computer systems running salesapplications including mobile devices running sales applications, cloudbased POS systems, checkout registers, computer systems running internetbased applications such as a web browser, and the like.

In embodiments where object 250 is a biometrically identifiable object,such as a finger, a hand, an iris, or a face, object identifier 255 canidentify the biometrically identifiable object or can obtain informationfrom the biometrically identifiable object and can transmit thatinformation to a computer system that can use the information toidentify the biometrically identifiable object. For example, when thebiometrically identifiable object is a finger, object identifier 255 canobtain data related to the fingerprint of the finger. In someembodiments, object identifier 255 can recognize the fingerprint toidentify the finger (e.g. this is the finger of Jane Doe). For example,object identifier 255 can include a biometric scanner coupled to acomputer system such as a POS system, wherein the biometric scanner canscan the consumer's fingerprint, can transmit the biometric scan resultsto the computer system to which the biometric scanner is coupled, andthe computer system can use the consumer's fingerprint to identify thefinger. In other embodiments, object identifier 255 can transmit thedata related to the fingerprint to a second computer system, forexample, to a compute server associated with the seller, to financialsystem 160, to computer system 170, or to another computer system, andthe second computer system can use the transmitted fingerprint data toidentify the finger. The second computer system can transmit identifyinginformation associated with the finger to object identifier 255, theidentifying information being part of the object information. Objectidentifier 255 can further transmit the object information to financialsystem 160.

In embodiments where object 250 is a mobile device, object identifier255 can obtain identifying information associated with the mobiledevice. In one example where object 250 is a smart phone, objectidentifier 255 can communicate with the smart phone via 3G to obtainidentifying information related to a digital wallet associated with thesmart phone, the identifying information being part of the objectinformation. Object identifier 255 in various embodiments cancommunicate with the mobile device via WiFi, 3G, 4G, Near FieldCommunication (NFC), or Bluetooth, or can obtain an optical code such asa QR code or a bar code or any machine readable code from the mobiledevice, for example, by scanning an optical code displayed by the mobiledevice. Object identifier 255 can further transmit the objectinformation to financial system 160.

Personal computing device 165 can be a mobile device. Examples of mobiledevices include smart phones, tablets, portable media devices, wearabledevices, laptops, and other portable computers. Personal computingdevice 165 can further be a non-portable computer, such as a desktopcomputer.

Object 250 can be associated with multiple payment accounts, and aloyalty program can be a payment account. A seller may be motivated toincentivize certain behaviors in customers. For example, the seller maywant the consumer to return to the seller's store, or to purchase acertain item, or to return to the store during at a certain time orduring a certain time window and make a purchase. To incentivizebehaviors such as these, a seller can participate in or offer a loyaltyprogram. The seller can provide loyalty points or some equivalent foreach purchase made by a consumer. By coming back to the seller's storeand making additional purchases, the consumer can grow the his loyaltypoints. The loyalty points can be redeemed for purchases made at theseller's store or another of the seller's stores or with otherbusinesses that participate in the loyalty program.

In addition to incentivizing loyalty to a store or a brand by providingloyalty points for purchases made at the store or for brand products, aseller can use the loyalty program to incentivize other behaviors. Forexample, if the store has a slow period, such as a coffee shop is slowbetween 3 pm and 4 pm, the store owner can, in order to incentivizeconsumers to make purchases at the store during this slow time, offerincreased loyalty points for purchases made between 3 pm and 4 pm at thestore. The store owner can also offer increased redemption value for aconsumer's loyalty points, or can lower the cost of products or servicesin terms of loyalty points, during this time window. For example, thestore owner could offer to redeem 100 loyalty points and provide 150points of value, or could reduce an item that normally costs 150 loyaltypoints to 100 loyalty points, for purchases made between 3 pm and 4 pm.As another example, if a business owner wants to incentivize consumersto purchase a new item the business owner is introducing, the businessowner can offer increased loyalty points to consumers for purchasingthis new item. The business owner can also offer increased loyalty pointredemption value or reduced loyalty point costs to a consumer forpurchasing this new item using loyalty program points. For example, ifthe new item can be normally purchased with 150 loyalty points, thebusiness owner can offer 150 points of loyalty program value for 100redeemed loyalty points to a consumer for purchasing this new item, orthe business owner can reduce the cost of the new item to 100 loyaltypoints.

FIG. 3A is an illustration of a subset of components of or associatedwith a first embodiment of a financial system for processing purchasetransactions and associated fund transfers. The following description ofFIG. 3A will be described using the transaction illustrated in FIG. 1,and will refer to labels of that figure. FIG. 5A illustrates the firstembodiment, and FIG. 3A contains the subset of the components of FIG. 5Athat are relevant to explaining the transaction illustrated in FIG. 1.The following description of FIG. 3A also applies to FIG. 3B, exceptwhere differences are noted. All actions, decisions, determinations, andthe like which are taken or received by computer system 170 can also betaken or received by financial transaction platform 575 when computersystem 170 includes an implementation of financial transaction platform575, as is represented in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

The transaction of this example starts when a consumer presents proxycard 150 to seller 310, the proxy card being a magnetic stripe cardsimilar to a credit card. Seller 310 initiates card swipe 105 at step103 by swiping proxy card 150 through card reader 155. Card reader 155at step 108 then sends the information obtained from proxy card 150, theproxy card information, to POS system 158. Card reader 155 is coupled toPOS system 158. Payment authorization 130 starts at step 110 when POSsystem 158 transmits the proxy card information to financial system 160.In the example of FIG. 1, proxy card 150 is encoded as a VISA brandedpayment card.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3A, financial system 160 includes processingservice 320, financial service 330, and banking service 340. In someembodiments, financial system 160 can include computer system 170, suchas in the embodiments of FIGS. 4A-4C. FIGS. 4A-4C are illustrations ofcomponents of or associated respectively with a third, fourth, and fifthembodiment of a financial system. In the embodiment of FIG. 4A, computersystem 170 is under the control of banking service 440. In theembodiment of FIG. 4B, computer system 170 is under the control offinancial service 430. In the embodiment of FIG. 4C, computer system 170is under the control of processing service 420.

POS system 158 at step 110 transmits the proxy card information tofinancial system 160, where the proxy card information is received byprocessing service 320. An example of processing service 320 is Bank ofAmerica Merchant Services. Processing service 320, based on the receivedproxy card information, determines that proxy card 150 is encoded as aVISA branded payment card. Based on this determination, processingservice 320 relays the received information to the financial servicethat processes VISA branded payment cards. In this example, financialservice 330 is VISA's VisaNet Payment System, which processes paymentsmade using VISA branded payment cards.

The proxy card information includes meta-data which financial service330 uses to determine to transmit the proxy card and transactioninformation to computer system 170. As illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4C, invarious embodiments computer system 170 can be under the control of aprocessing service, a financial service, or a banking service. Financialservice 330, upon determining to transmit information associated withproxy card 150 to computer system 170, performs step 115 in whichfinancial service 330 transmits information associated with proxy card150 to computer system 170.

Connector 390 shows two connections to financial service 330 in order tofacilitate explaining the example of FIG. 3A. This is not intended torepresent two connections, or any specific number of connections.Connector 390 represents an information flow made via any type ofcommunications medium, such as a network (wired or wireless). Label 390Brepresents a flow of information that is generally from financial system160 to computer system 170, such as occurs at step 115. In theembodiments of FIGS. 5A and 5B, the information flow of step 115 isgenerally from financial service 330 to computer system 170. Label 390Arepresents a flow of information that is generally from computer system170 to financial system 160, such as occurs at steps 120 and 175. In theembodiment of FIG. 5A, the information flow of steps 120 and 175 isgenerally from computer system 170 to financial service 330. In theembodiment of FIG. 5B, the information flow of steps 120 and 175 isgenerally from computer system 170 to processing service 320.

Computer system 170 at step 180 selects the payment account to use forthe purchase transaction, which in this example is also a VISA brandedpayment card account. Computer system 170 performs step 120 whichincludes sending the transaction information and the payment accountinformation to financial system 160. In the financial system embodimentof FIG. 3A, this includes sending the transaction and payment accountinformation to financial service 330, as is represented by the branch ofconnector 390 that is labeled 390A. Computer system 170 sends thetransaction and payment account information to financial service 330based on a determination that the selected payment account is a VISAbranded payment account, and based on a determination that financialservice 330 is the financial service that processes payments made usingVISA branded payment cards.

As is represented by label 390A of FIG. 5A, computer system 170 can sendthe transaction and payment account information to different financialservices when payments from the selected payment account are processedby other financial services. Financial service 330 determines that thepayment account is managed by banking service 340, and sends thetransaction and payment account information to banking service 340. Anexample of a banking service is Chase Bank. Banking service 340determines the result of payment authorization 130, and in step 125sends the results of the authorization to POS system 158.

FIG. 3B is an illustration of a subset of components of or associatedwith a second embodiment of a financial system for processing purchasetransactions and associated fund transfers. FIG. 5B illustrates thesecond embodiment, and FIG. 3B contains the subset of the components ofFIG. 5B that are relevant to explaining the transaction illustrated inFIG. 1. In the embodiment of FIG. 3B, when computer system 170 performsstep 120, computer system 170 sends the transaction information and thepayment account information to processing service 320 instead offinancial service 330. In this embodiment, rather than computer system170 making the determination to send the transaction and payment accountinformation to financial service 330 for processing, processing service320 makes this determination. Processing service 320 sends thetransaction and payment account information to financial service 330based on a determination that the selected payment account is a VISAbranded payment account, and based on a determination that financialservice 330 is the financial service that processes payments made usingVISA branded payment cards. In this embodiment, label 390A represents aflow of information that is generally from computer system 170 toprocessing service 320, such as occurs at steps 120 and 175.

Returning to the description of FIG. 3A, at this point, assuming thatthe purchase transaction was authorized and the consumer accepted thepurchase transaction, the purchase transaction is complete. At a latertime, for example when the consumer arrives at home, the consumer canoptionally start phase 3, change of payment account 145. If the consumerutilizes change of payment account 145, at step 175 computer system 170sends the second payment account information and the transactioninformation to financial system 160.

For the embodiment represented in FIG. 3A, and similar to the above FIG.3A discussion related to step 120, sending the transaction and paymentaccount information to financial system 160 includes sending thetransaction and payment account information to financial service 330, asis represented by 390A of FIG. 3A. For the embodiment represented inFIG. 3B, and similar to the above FIG. 3B discussion related to step120, sending the transaction and payment account information tofinancial system 160 includes sending the transaction and paymentaccount information to processing service 320, as is represented by 390Aof FIG. 3B. Processing service 320 makes a determination to send thetransaction and payment account information to financial service 330.

Returning to the description of FIG. 3A, financial service 330determines that the payment account of this example is managed bybanking service 340, and sends the transaction and payment accountinformation to banking service 340. For other payment accounts,financial service 330 may determine that a different bank manages thatpayment account. Financial service 330 can send the transaction andpayment account information to another banking service, as isrepresented in FIG. 5A, which shows information flowing from multiplefinancial services to multiple banking services. Banking service 340determines the result of payment authorization 130, and sends the resultto computer system 170. Upon receipt of the authorization, computersystem 170 ensures that funds for the payment will not be taken from thepayment account initially used for the payment. This can be done, forexample, by canceling the payment authorization of the previous paymentaccount. As a result of change of payment account 145, funds for thepayment will be transferred from the second payment account to theaccount associated with the seller, and the initial payment account willnot contribute any funds for the payment.

In the financial system embodiment of FIG. 3B, causing the transferincludes computer system 170 sending the transaction and payment accountinformation to processing service 320, as is represented by 390A of FIG.3B. As discussed previously, processing service 320 determines to sendthe transaction and payment account information to financial service330. Financial service 330 performs from this point as previouslydescribed.

FIG. 5A is an illustration of components of or associated with a firstembodiment of a financial system for processing financial transactionsand associated fund transfers. Computer system 170 includes financialtransaction platform 575. A financial transaction platform enablesmultiple consumers to engage in financial transactions with multiplepayees. As an example of one such financial transaction, a consumer canpurchase a coffee from a merchant using payment card 505. POS system158A can obtain payment card information from payment card 505 and cansend the payment card information and the transaction information tofinancial transaction platform 575. Financial transaction platform 575can process the payment made using the payment card, the processingincluding sending information to financial system 160 to causes atransfer of funds from the account associated with payment card 505 toan account associated with the merchant. All other components of FIG. 5Aare discussed in the descriptions of FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 5B is an illustration of components of or associated with a secondembodiment of a financial system for processing financial transactionsand associated fund transfers. All components of FIG. 5B are discussedin the descriptions of FIGS. 1-5A.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a method forprocessing a payment made using a payment object. Step 605 includesenabling multiple customers to engage in financial transactions withmultiple payees. Step 605 can be enabled by financial transactionplatform 575, as well as by computer system 170. Using the example ofFIG. 5A as an example of one such financial transaction, a consumer canpurchase a coffee from a merchant using payment card 505. POS system158A can obtain payment card information from payment card 505 and cansend the payment card information and the transaction information tofinancial transaction platform 575. Computer system 170, as well asfinancial transaction platform 575, can process the payment made usingthe payment card, the processing including sending information tofinancial system 160 to cause a transfer of funds from the accountassociated with payment card 505 to an account associated with themerchant.

Step 610 includes making a payment using a payment object. Step 610 canoccur after step 605. The payment object is also referred to herein as aproxy object. The payment object can be, for example, a proxy card. Aconsumer can present the proxy card to make a payment associated with afinancial transaction. For example, the consumer can purchase a coffeefrom a merchant. To pay for the coffee, the consumer can present theproxy card to the merchant, as is done in step 205 of FIG. 2. An objectidentifier, such as a POS system 158, can obtain proxy card informationfrom the proxy card, as is done in step 210 of FIG. 2. The proxy cardinformation can be sent to financial system 160, as is done in step 210of FIG. 2. The proxy card information can alternatively be sent tocomputer system 170 and/or financial transaction platform 575, forexample, from POS system 158A to computer system 170 and/or financialtransaction platform 575. The consumer can make a payment using theproxy card by presenting the proxy card to the merchant so that themerchant's POS system can obtain proxy card information from the proxycard.

Step 615 includes receiving transaction information associated with afinancial transaction. Step 615 can occur after step 610. Computersystem 170 and/or financial transaction platform 575 can receivetransaction information associated with a financial transaction. As perstep 215, financial system 160 can send the transaction informationreceived at step 210 to computer system 170, with computer system 170resultantly receiving the transaction information. In some embodiments,financial transaction platform 575 is implemented on computer system170, and financial transaction platform 575 can also receive thetransaction information.

Step 620 includes receiving the payment object information. Step 620 canoccur after steps 605 or 610, and before or after step 615. The paymentobject can be a proxy card, and computer system 170 and/or financialtransaction platform 575 can receive the payment object information. Asper step 215, financial system 160 can send the payment objectinformation received at step 210 to computer system 170, with computersystem 170 resultantly receiving the payment object information. In someembodiments, financial transaction platform 575 is implemented oncomputer system 170, and financial transaction platform 575 can alsoreceive the payment object information.

Step 625 includes accessing a database that includes stored associationinformation representing an association between the payment object andmultiple payment accounts. Step 625 can occur after steps 610-620. Theassociation information can be, for example, links between the paymentobject and the multiple payment accounts. When the payment object is aproxy card, the consumer can, for example, enter the card number of theproxy card using a web site associated with computer system 170 and/orfinancial transaction platform 575. The consumer can then enter the cardnumber of a first payment card using the website. Computer system 170and/or financial transaction platform 575 can link the first paymentcard with the proxy card, such as by using a database.

The consumer can similarly link additional payment cards, and themultiple payment cards can all be associated with the proxy card. Thelinkages in the database between the proxy card and the multiple paymentaccounts are association information, the association information beingstored in the database. The database can have further associationinformation, such as the name of the consumer, the consumer's address,credit report information regarding the consumer, and the like. Thisadditional information further associates the proxy card and themultiple payment accounts, as the proxy card and the payment accountsare all associated with the consumer, and are associated with each otherby this common association with the customer. The database can includeadditional association information.

When accessing the database, this association information can beretrieved from the database. For example, computer system 170 and/orfinancial transaction platform 575 can use the payment objectinformation received during step 620 as an index into the database. Oneof the entries in the database can be a list of payment accountsassociated with the proxy card. Computer system 170 and/or financialtransaction platform 575 can retrieve this list of payment accounts, andcan further retrieve payment account information from the database.

After step 625, one or more of the payment accounts associated with theproxy object can be chosen to use to obtain authorization for thepayment. The payment account can be selected by computer system 170and/or financial transaction platform 575, as happens at step 630, orcan be selected by the consumer, as happens during steps 635-640.

Step 630 includes selecting a first payment account. Step 630 can beafter step 625. The first payment account can be selected by computersystem 170 and/or financial transaction platform 575, and can be basedon an algorithm. For example, the algorithm can select the same onepayment account for all payments made using the payment object. Theconsumer can change the payment account that is chosen. As a secondexample, the algorithm can select a different payment account for eachpurchase transaction, as well as for each line item of the purchasetransaction. For example, the algorithm can select an Exxon credit cardfor gas purchases, and a VISA credit card for items purchased at agrocer. If the consumer purchases gas and snacks at one store, thealgorithm can select the Exxon card to pay for the gas purchase and canselect the VISA card to pay for the snack purchase.

Step 635 includes causing a portion of the association information to bedisplayed. Step 635 can be after step 625. Computer system 170 and/orfinancial transaction platform 575 can cause a portion of theassociation information to be displayed. In this scenario, for example,the customer can have just provided the proxy card to the merchant topay for the coffee. The proxy card was swiped and the transaction isgoing through the authorization process. During the authorizationprocess, a listing of the payment accounts associated with the proxycard can be displayed on the consumer's mobile device, and the consumercan use his mobile device to select the payment card to use for thepayment.

For example, computer system 170 and/or financial transaction platform575 can have obtained the listing of the payment accounts associatedwith the proxy card while accessing the database at step 625, thelisting of the payment accounts being a portion of the associationinformation. Computer system 170 and/or financial transaction platform575 can send or cause to be sent this listing of payment account to theconsumer's mobile device, and the consumer can use his mobile device toselect the payment card to use for the payment.

Step 640 includes receiving selection information indicating a selectionof a first payment account. Step 640 can occur after step 625 or 635.After the consumer uses his mobile device to select the payment accountto use for the payment, the mobile device can send selection informationto computer system 170 and/or financial transaction platform 575, theselection information indicating a selection of a first payment accountto use for the payment.

Step 645 includes causing an authorization for the payment to be sent.Step 645 can occur after any of steps 625-640. Computer system 170and/or financial transaction platform 575 can cause an authorization forthe payment to be sent. As a first example, computer system 170 and/orfinancial transaction platform 575 can cause the authorization to besent by sending the transaction information and the selected paymentaccount information to financial system 160. The financial system candetermine if the payment account has access to adequate funds to makethe payment, and can authorize the payment when adequate access isavailable. Financial system 160 can send the authorization for thepurchase to the object identifier, such as POS system 158.

As a second example, computer system 170 and/or financial transactionplatform 575 can cause the authorization to be sent by sending theauthorization. The authorization can be sent to the object identifier,such as POS system 158. The authorization can alternately be sent tofinancial system 160, which can relay the authorization to the objectidentifier. Computer system 170 and/or financial transaction platform575 can decide the payment authorization based on information such asthe consumer's credit reports or scores and the history of past paymentsprocessed by computer system 170 and/or financial transaction platform575.

After step 645, the consumer can choose to change the payment accountused to obtain funds for the payment.

Step 650 includes causing funds to be transferred from the first paymentaccount to an account associated with the payee. Step 650 can occurafter step 645. When the customer does not change the payment account,step 650 occurs. Computer system 170 and/or financial transactionplatform 575 at step 645 sent transaction information and paymentaccount information to financial system 160, and financial system 160authorized the payment. The action of causing the payment authorization,unless prevented from taking effect, such as by canceling the payment,causes funds to be transferred from the first payment account to anaccount associated with the payee. The transaction information includesan amount corresponding to the amount to be transferred as well asinformation regarding the payee sufficient to allow identification ofthe account associated with the payee into which the funds are to betransferred. The payment account information includes informationregarding the payment account sufficient to allow identification of theaccount to facilitate the transfer of funds from the account.

Step 655 includes causing information associated with the paymentaccounts to be displayed. Step 655 can occur after step 645. Computersystem 170 and/or financial transaction platform 575 can causeinformation associated with the payment accounts to be displayed. Inthis scenario, for example, the customer can have completed the purchaseand left the merchant's place of business with the purchased goods. Uponarriving home, the consumer can decide to change the payment account touse for the payment. The consumer can initiate communications withcomputer system 170 and/or financial transaction platform 575 using acomputing device, such as the consumer's smartphone, tablet computer, ordesktop computer. Computer system 170 and/or financial transactionplatform 575 can obtain the listing of payment accounts associated withthe proxy object by accessing the database, as in step 625. Computersystem 170 and/or financial transaction platform 575 can send or causeto be sent the listing of payment accounts to the consumer's computingdevice. The computer can use the computing device to select a secondpayment account to use for the payment, and from which funds for thepayment are to be taken.

Step 660 includes receiving selection information indicating a selectionof a second payment account. Step 660 can occur after step 645 or 655.After the consumer uses his computing device to select the paymentaccount to use for the payment, the computing device can send selectioninformation to computer system 170 and/or financial transaction platform575, the selection information indicating a selection of a first paymentaccount to use for the payment.

Step 665 includes causing funds to be transferred from the secondpayment account to an account associated with the payee. Step 665 canoccur after step 660. Computer system 170 and/or financial transactionplatform 575 send the transaction information and the second paymentaccount information to financial system 160. This is done to cause thefunds for the payment to come from the second payment account ratherthan the first payment account. Financial system 160 can authorize thepayment using the second payment account, and can send a paymentauthorization to computer system 170 and/or financial transactionplatform 575. Computer system 170 and/or financial transaction platform575 can also prevent funds for the payment from being obtained from thefirst payment account. For example, computer system 170 and/or financialtransaction platform 575 can send information to financial system 160that causes the payment and/or the payment authorization to be canceled.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of a computer system in whichoperations described herein can be executed. In the example of FIG. 7,the computer system 700 includes a processor, memory, non-volatilememory, and an interface device. Various common components (e.g., cachememory) are omitted for illustrative simplicity. The computer system 700is intended to illustrate a hardware device on which any of thecomponents depicted in the examples of FIGS. 1-5 (and any othercomponents described in this specification) can be implemented. Thecomputer system 700 can be of any applicable known or convenient type.The components of the computer system 700 can be coupled together via abus or through some other known or convenient device.

This disclosure contemplates the computer system 700 taking any suitablephysical form. As example and not by way of limitation, computer system700 may be an embedded computer system, a system-on-chip (SOC), asingle-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, acomputer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computersystem, a laptop or notebook computer system, an interactive kiosk, amainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a server, or a combination of two or more ofthese. Where appropriate, computer system 700 may include one or morecomputer systems 700; be unitary or distributed; span multiplelocations; span multiple machines; or reside in a cloud, which mayinclude one or more cloud components in one or more networks. Whereappropriate, one or more computer systems 700 may perform withoutsubstantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one ormore methods described or illustrated herein. As an example and not byway of limitation, one or more computer systems 700 may perform in realtime or in batch mode one or more steps of one or more methods describedor illustrated herein. One or more computer systems 700 may perform atdifferent times or at different locations one or more steps of one ormore methods described or illustrated herein, where appropriate.

The processor may be, for example, a conventional microprocessor such asan Intel Core microprocessor or an Intel Itanium microprocessor or aMotorola power PC microprocessor or a SPARC architecture processor. Oneof skill in the relevant art will recognize that the terms“machine-readable (storage) medium” or “computer-readable (storage)medium” include any type of device that is accessible by the processor.

The memory is coupled to the processor by, for example, a bus. Thememory can include, by way of example but not limitation, random accessmemory (RAM), such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Thememory can be local, remote, or distributed.

The bus also couples the processor to the non-volatile memory and driveunit. The non-volatile memory cane be a magnetic floppy or hard disk, amagnetic-optical disk, an optical disk, a flash memory such as NANDflash memory or NOR flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM) such as aCD-ROM, a programmable read-only memory such as EPROM or EEPROM, amagnetic or optical card, or another form of storage for large amountsof data. Some of this data is often written, by a direct memory accessprocess, into memory during execution of software in the computer 700.The non-volatile storage can be local, remote, or distributed. Thenon-volatile memory is optional because systems can be created with allapplicable data available in memory. A typical computer system willusually include at least a processor, memory, and a device (e.g., a bus)coupling the memory to the processor.

Software is typically stored in the non-volatile memory and/or the driveunit. Indeed, for large programs, storing the entire program in memorymay not even be possible. Nevertheless, one should understand that forsoftware to run, if necessary, the software is moved to a computerreadable location appropriate for processing, and for illustrativepurposes, that location is referred to as the memory in this paper. Evenwhen software is moved to the memory for execution, the processor willtypically make use of hardware registers to store values associated withthe software, and local cache that, ideally, serves to speed upexecution. As used herein, a software program is assumed to be stored atany known or convenient location (from non-volatile storage to hardwareregisters) when the software program is referred to as “implemented in acomputer-readable medium.” A processor is considered to be “configuredto execute a program” when at least one value associated with theprogram is stored in a register readable by the processor.

The bus also couples the processor to the network interface device. Theinterface can include one or more of a modem or network interface. Aperson of ordinary skill will appreciate that a modem or networkinterface can be considered to be part of the computer system 700. Theinterface can include an analog modem, ISDN modem, cable modem, tokenring interface, satellite transmission interface (e.g. “direct PC”),Wi-Fi interface, or other interfaces for coupling a computer system toother computer systems. The interface can include one or more inputand/or output devices. The I/O devices can include, by way of examplebut not limitation, a keyboard, a mouse or other pointing device, diskdrives, printers, a scanner, and other input and/or output devices,including a display device. The display device can include, by way ofexample but not limitation, a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), or some other applicable known or convenient displaydevice. For simplicity, this disclosure assumes that controllers of anydevices not depicted in the example of FIG. 7 reside in the interface.

The computer system can have one Bus or multiple Buses. A bus caninclude for example, a system bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect(PCI) bus or PCI-Express bus, a HyperTransport or industry standardarchitecture (ISA) bus, a small computer system interface (SCSI) bus, auniversal serial bus (USB, USB 2.0, USB 3.0), IIC (I2C) bus, anInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394bus, also called “Firewire,” a QuickPath Interconnect bus, a ThunderBoltinterconnect bus, a DisplayPort interconnect bus or its companionstandards Mini DisplayPort (mDP), Direct Drive Monitor (DDM), EmbeddedDisplayPort (eDP), Internal DisplayPort (iDP), Portable Digital MediaInterface (PDMI), Wireless DisplayPort (wDP), and Mobility DisplayPort(MyDP), an HDMI interconnect bus, a DVI bus.

In operation, the computer system 700 can be controlled by operatingsystem software that includes a file management system, such as a diskoperating system. One example of operating system software withassociated file management system software is the family of operatingsystems known as Windows® from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.,and their associated file management systems. Another example ofoperating system software with its associated file management systemsoftware is the Linux™ operating system and its associated filemanagement system. The file management system is typically stored in thenon-volatile memory and/or drive unit and causes the processor toexecute the various acts required by the operating system to input andoutput data and to store data in the memory, including storing files onthe non-volatile memory and/or drive unit.

Some portions of the detailed description may be presented in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to adesired result. The operations are those requiring physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily,these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capableof being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwisemanipulated. Referring to these signals as bits, values, elements,symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like has proven convenientat times, principally for reasons of common usage.

One should bear in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion,one should appreciate that throughout the description, discussionsutilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“determining” or “displaying” or “generating” or the like, refer to theaction and processes of a computer system, or similar electroniccomputing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical (electronic) quantities within registers and memories of thecomputer system into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computer system memories or registers or othersuch information storage, transmission or display devices.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purposesystems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or constructing more specialized apparatus to perform themethods of some embodiments may prove more convenient. The requiredstructure for a variety of these systems will appear from thedescription below. In addition, the techniques are not described withreference to any particular programming language, and variousembodiments may thus be implemented using a variety of programminglanguages.

In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone deviceor may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may be a server computer, a client computer, a personalcomputer (PC), a laptop computer, a tablet, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, an iPhone, aBlackberry, a smart phone, a processor, a telephone, a web appliance, anetwork router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing aset of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to betaken by that machine.

While the machine-readable medium or machine-readable storage medium isshown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term“machine-readable medium” and “machine-readable storage medium” shouldbe taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“machine-readable medium” and “machine-readable storage medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encodingor carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and thatcause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies ormodules of the presently disclosed technique and innovation.

In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of thedisclosure, may be implemented as part of an operating system or aspecific application, component, program, object, module or sequence ofinstructions referred to as “computer programs.” The computer programstypically comprise one or more instructions set at various times invarious memory and storage devices in a computer, and that, when readand executed by one or more processing units or processors in acomputer, cause the computer to perform operations to execute elementsinvolving the various aspects of the disclosure.

Moreover, while embodiments have been described in the context of fullyfunctioning computers and computer systems, those skilled in the artwill appreciate that the various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that thedisclosure applies equally regardless of the particular type of machineor computer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

Further examples of machine-readable storage media, machine-readablemedia, or computer-readable (storage) media include but are not limitedto recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memorydevices, floppy and other removable disks, hard disk drives, opticaldisks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital VersatileDisks, (DVDs), etc.), Blu-ray disks, among others, and transmission typemedia such as digital and analog communication links.

In some circumstances, operation of a memory device, such as a change instate from a binary one to a binary zero or vice-versa, for example, maycomprise a transformation, such as a physical transformation. Withparticular types of memory devices, such a physical transformation maycomprise a physical transformation of an article to a different state orthing. For example, but without limitation, for some types of memorydevices, a change in state may involve an accumulation and storage ofcharge or a release of stored charge. Likewise, in other memory devices,a change of state may comprise a physical change or transformation inmagnetic orientation or a physical change or transformation in molecularstructure, such as from crystalline to amorphous or vice versa. Theforegoing is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all examples inwhich a change in state for a binary one to a binary zero or vice-versain a memory device may comprise a transformation, such as a physicaltransformation. Rather, the foregoing is intended as illustrativeexamples.

A storage medium typically may be non-transitory or comprise anon-transitory device. In this context, a non-transitory storage mediummay include a device that is tangible, meaning that the device has aconcrete physical form, although the device may change its physicalstate. Thus, for example, non-transitory refers to a device remainingtangible despite this change in state.

A person having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that there arevarious other ways to implement the described functionality. The scopeof this disclosure also includes embodiments implementing the describedfunctionality in these various other ways. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is intended to embrace all such alternatives,modifications, and variations as fall within the scope of the claims,together with all equivalents thereof.

Numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present invention. One skilled inthe art will appreciate that embodiments of the present invention may bepracticed without some of these specific details. In other instances,well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form.

Embodiments of the present invention include various steps. The stepsmay be performed by hardware components or may be embodied inmachine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with theinstructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, the steps may beperformed by a combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for processing a financial transactionbetween a merchant and a consumer, the method comprising: receiving,from a point-of-sale (POS) system and by a computer system, transactioninformation associated with the financial transaction, the financialtransaction involving a swipe of a proxy card through a card readerassociated with the POS system, the proxy card being associated with aplurality of payment accounts each of the payment accounts associatedwith one of a credit card, a debit card, or a gift card; receiving, fromthe POS system and by the computer system, proxy card informationobtained from the proxy card by the card reader, the proxy cardinformation associated with a plurality of payment accounts; accessing,by the computer system and based on the proxy card information, adatabase to obtain payment account information; selecting, by thecomputer system, a first payment account based on the payment accountinformation; transmitting, by the computer system and to a financialsystem, first payment account information to be used to generate anauthorization for the financial transaction; receiving, by the computersystem, from a personal computing device associated with the consumer,and after the generation of the authorization for the financialtransaction, selection information indicating a selection by theconsumer of a second payment account from which funds for the financialtransaction are to be obtained; and transmitting, by the computer systemand to the financial system, the second payment account information tocause funds for the financial transaction to be transferred from thesecond payment account to an account associated with the merchant. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the selection information was sent by thepersonal computing device based on a selection made by the consumerusing the personal computing device, the method further comprising:causing, prior to receiving the selection information, informationassociated with the payment accounts to be displayed on the personalcomputing device associated with the consumer to facilitate theselection made by the consumer.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theselecting the first payment account is based on a prioritization of thepayment accounts previously made by the consumer.
 4. A methodcomprising: receiving, by a computer system and from a transactionprocessing system, object information and transaction informationassociated with a financial transaction involving a consumer, thefinancial transaction involving a payment made by the consumer using apayment object of the consumer, the object information having beenobtained from the payment object by the transaction processing system;accessing, by a computer system, a database that includes storedassociation information representing an association between the paymentobject and a plurality of payment accounts of the consumer; andselecting, by the computer system, a first payment account associatedwith the object information based on the association information, foruse in processing the payment.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein thefirst payment account is associated with first payment accountinformation, the method further comprising: causing, by the computersystem, an authorization for the payment to be sent to the transactionprocessing system, the authorization based on the first payment accountinformation.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the payment is to apayee, further comprising: causing funds to be transferred from thefirst payment account to an account associated with the payee inassociation with the payment.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein thepayment is to a payee, further comprising: receiving, from a personalcomputing device associated with the consumer and after causing theauthorization for the payment to be sent, selection informationindicating a selection of a second payment account associated with theobject information; and causing funds to be transferred from the secondpayment account to an account associated with the payee in associationwith the payment.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the selectioninformation was sent by the personal computing device based on aselection made by the consumer using the personal computing device, themethod further comprising: causing, prior to receiving the selectioninformation, information associated with the payment accounts to bedisplayed on the personal computing device associated with the consumerto facilitate the selection made by the consumer.
 9. The method of claim4, wherein the payment object is any one of a magnetic stripe card, asmart card, a proximity card, and an optical code.
 10. The method ofclaim 4, wherein each of the payment accounts is an account associatedwith any one of a credit card, a charge card, an automated tellermachine (ATM) card, a debit card, a pre-paid gift card, and a fleetcard.
 11. The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the paymentaccounts is a loyalty program.
 12. The method of claim 5, wherein theauthorization for the payment is sent by the computer system.
 13. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the authorization for the payment is sent bya financial system.
 14. A method comprising: receiving, by a computersystem and from a transaction processing system, object information andtransaction information associated with a financial transactioninvolving a consumer, the financial transaction involving a payment madeby the consumer using a payment object of the consumer, the objectinformation having been obtained from the object by the transactionprocessing system; accessing, by a computer system, a database thatincludes stored association information representing an associationbetween the payment object and a plurality of payment accounts of theconsumer; causing, by the computer system, a portion of the associationinformation to be displayed on a mobile device associated with theconsumer to facilitate a selection of a first payment account; andreceiving, by the computer system and from the mobile device, selectioninformation indicating the selection of the first payment account; 15.The method of claim 14, further comprising: causing, by the computersystem, an authorization for the payment to be sent to the transactionprocessing system.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the payment is toa payee, further comprising: causing funds to be transferred from thepayment account to an account associated with the payee in associationwith the payment.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the funds that aretransferred in association with the payment are to pay a portion of thepayment.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the payment is to a payee,further comprising: receiving, from a personal computing deviceassociated with the consumer and after causing the authorization to besent, second selection information indicating a selection of a secondpayment account associated with the object information; and causingfunds to be transferred from the second payment account to an accountassociated with the payee in association with the payment.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, further comprising: causing, prior to receiving thesecond selection information, information associated with the paymentaccounts to be displayed on the personal computing device associatedwith the consumer to facilitate the selection of the second paymentaccount.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the mobile device and thepersonal computing device are a same single device.
 21. A methodcomprising: enabling, by a financial transaction platform implemented ona computer system, a plurality of consumers to engage in financialtransactions with a plurality of payees, the financial transactionsincluding payments made by the consumers using payment cards, thefinancial transaction platform processing the payments, the processingincluding causing a transfer of funds from accounts associated with thepayment cards to accounts associated with the payees; receiving, by thefinancial transaction platform and from a transaction processing system,object information and transaction information associated with afinancial transaction involving a consumer, the financial transactioninvolving a payment made by the consumer using a payment object of theconsumer, the object information obtained from the payment object by thetransaction processing system; accessing, by the financial transactionplatform, a database that includes stored association informationrepresenting an association between the payment object and a pluralityof payment accounts of the consumer; causing, by the financialtransaction platform, a portion of the association information to bedisplayed on a computing device to facilitate a selection of a paymentaccount; and receiving, by the financial transaction platform and fromthe computing device, selection information indicating the selection ofthe payment account.
 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:causing, by the financial transaction platform, an authorization for thepayment to be sent to the transaction processing system.
 23. The methodof claim 21, wherein the computing device is a mobile device associatedwith the consumer.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein the computingdevice is the transaction processing system.
 25. The method of claim 21,wherein the payment is to a payee, further comprising: causing funds tobe transferred from the payment account to an account associated withthe payee in association with the payment.
 26. The method of claim 22,wherein the payment is to a payee, further comprising: receiving, from apersonal computing device associated with the consumer and after causingthe authorization to be sent, second selection information indicating aselection of a second payment account associated with the objectinformation; and causing funds to be transferred from the second paymentaccount to an account associated with the payee in association with thepayment.
 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising: causing, priorto receiving the second selection information, information associatedwith the payment accounts to be displayed on the personal computingdevice associated with the consumer to facilitate the selection of thesecond payment account.
 28. A system comprising: a communication devicethrough which to communicated with remote devices; a processor; and amemory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions whichwhen executed by the processor cause the system to perform operationsincluding: receiving, from a transaction processing system, objectinformation and transaction information associated with a financialtransaction involving a consumer, the financial transaction involving apayment made by the consumer using a payment object of the consumer, theobject information obtained from the payment object by the transactionprocessing system; accessing a database that includes stored associationinformation representing an association between the payment object and aplurality of payment accounts of the consumer; causing a portion of theassociation information to be displayed on a computing device tofacilitate a selection of a payment account; and receiving, from thecomputing device and via the communication device, selection informationindicating the selection of the payment account.
 29. The method of claim28, wherein the computing device is a mobile device associated with theconsumer.
 30. The method of claim 28, wherein the computing device isthe transaction processing system.